Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A few months ago, during a difficult time, I decided that I wasn't going to go to Church on Mother's Day this year. I just didn't have the emotional strength to sit through it and I didn't want to make a fool of myself (and draw unwanted attention) by crying through all the meetings. I told Nick and he gently told me that he would support me in what ever decision I made. Like the hymn "Each Life that Touches Our for Good" I have a few very special friends who, unknowingly, have helped me through their examples faith. Not all of their trials are similar to mine (although a few are) but each one of them have found peace through their faith in a lovingly Heavenly Father. Long story short: My Mom was asked to speak in sacrament meeting and I was asked to teach RS (so much for not going to church!) The lesson in RS was on prayer and "opening your soul to the Lord in prayer." As I was preparing the lesson during the week one of the suggested questions for the teacher was "What would you say to someone who feels that her prayers have gone unanswered?" So as to not drag this out too long, a lot of pouring out my soul to the Lord, scripture study and discussions with my wonderful husband occurred. I felt the love of my Savior and Heavenly Father stronger than I have in a long time. Sunday was a beautiful May day and we went to my parents ward. The bishop had asked each speaker to remember all women in every circumstance. My Mom did a wonderful job as well as the other speakers. One of the sisters shared from this talk given by Ardeth G Kapp who was a member of the presidency of the General Young Women's. TALK: "You're Like a Mother"I'm so grateful for all the women in my life who have helped me, strengthen me, encouraged me and just been there for me. I am so grateful for my wonderful Mother, Mother-in-Law (who raised a wonderful son) Grandmother and Great-Grandmother who all have been examples of righteous women.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I totally teared up as he walked across the stage. He has worked so incredibly hard (he graduated cum lade) going back to school was a sacrifice but will defiantly help provide a better future for our family

I am so proud of him

Dad and Mom Whiting

My sister graduated from UVU's Culinary program

We really lucked out that both Nick and Chrissy were in the same ceremony!

The whole Demke clan was there to support

Hehe, I just had to post this picture.

It was a beautiful day but kinda windy.

I was dragging Nick all over campus taking pictures (which was a fun walk down memory lane for me) but by this time he was hungry and DONE :)

We've been planning on going on a graduation trip for the past 2.5 years. The Monday after graduation we hopped on a plane and headed south of the border to Cancun Mexico. Prepare yourself for picture over load in 3....2....1!

The view from our window

Our resort

The weather was PERFECT (80 deg and Sunny) we basically lived in our swimsuits the entire time we were at the resort

Beautiful aqua blue water and soft white sand

For the "Honeymooners"

We only drank bottled water and the water from the restaurants,

didn't want to spend all our time in El Bano

One of the restaurants at the resort was fancy "formal" place,

they served delicious French cuisine

The resort was all-inclusive so everything was free (food, drink AND alcohol)

Our waiter felt bad I only ordered water so he brought me a drink, we told him we didn't drink alcohol (we said "no cerveza" a lot) he assured me that it was ok only muy poquito in it....

We did a tour through an LDS tour group, our tour guide Carlos was AWESOME. He had a secular knowledge about the Mayan history and culture and a strong testimony and knowlege about The Book of Mormon. We learned so much

Mayan Ruins at Coba

about 250 AD which places it around the time of 4th Nephi

The city was really big, we rode bikes through the jungle to each site about 8 km round trip

The temple at Coba is the largest pyramid in Mexico

You can climb to the top (at your own risk) but I got vertigo just looking up it so I passed

After getting all hot and sticky in the jungle we got to go swimming in a Cenote

This was so SO COOL! It's an underground freshwater pool or sinkhole

The water felt so good. It was about 30 feet deep and it was so clear you could see all the way to the bottom. Some cenotes are so deep people scuba dive in them